Earth Day

April 22, 1970 marked the first Earth Day celebration. Now, 43 years later, our country continues to take great strides to protect the environment. In fact, more than 1 billion people across the world participate in Earth Day activities each year. At BAE Systems, we not only honor this Earth Day, but we take pride in our commitment to sustainability every day.

How we do it

From environmental initiatives to making our buildings green, we have taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of the environments in which we operate. We have also worked hard to reduce our carbon footprint and helped our customers leverage new technologies that reduce the use of fossil fuels. Because of our commitment to sustainability, we have obtained the Green Building Certification Institute's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for several of our buildings and facilities. Some of these buildings include our silver LEED buildings, the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tenn., and our Rockville, Md., site, as well as our gold LEED facility in Sterling Heights, Mich.

Sterling Heights facility

The environmental components of these facilities include everything from lower waste outputs and environmentally-friendly carpets, to high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and individual light controls, among several other green aspects. But our commitment to sustainability does not end there.

In Austin, Texas, we have partnered with the City of Austin to build a pipeline that sends millions of gallons of reclaimed wastewater to the local BAE Systems facility. This initiative not only saves the city more than 10 million gallons of potable water each year, but it’s estimated that, by 2034, the city could free up as much as 10 percent of its water supply to meet the population’s growing demand.

While reserving water in Austin, BAE Systems helped maintain The Elizabeth River Project’s Learning Barge, based in Portsmouth, Va. The Learning Barge travels to various communities and sites on the Elizabeth River and serves to promote environmental education. The barge is powered by solar and wind energy, collects rainwater, and utilizes recycled and renewable materials. BAE Systems’ shipyard in Norfolk was among the 2012 recipients of the Learning Barge Steward Ship awards for supporting the barge by making repairs, inspections and hauling it from place to place.

BAE Systems will continue to work hard to protect the environment and invent technologies that reduce our carbon footprint. Stay tuned for Earth Day 2014 to see how we furthered our commitment to sustainability.